[.ca] Creating and Planting Garden Troughs (ISBN 1893443000)

Great resource for this niche gardening style:
Stone agricultural troughs, either as a theme or an accent, can add a special look to a garden. Of course you don't have to use a real stone these days as cement can be used to create the troughs. But, whether stone or cement it still ends up extremely heavy. One way to get around this is to mix peat moss with the cement. This produces a much lighter weight, porous trough that looks like stone. That is the focus of this particular gardening book - how to make these "hypertufa" troughs, what plants do well in them, and some basic plan layouts for using them in a garden design. Pictures of the troughs created by these techniques show troughs and stones that appear very old with lichens and mosses growing on the sides. They remind me very much of pictures of ancient Mayan or Indonesian stone ruins. For anyone who wants to add this type of accent or wants to create a garden that has the appearance of ancient stone structures this is a book you will want to have.

Practical workbook....:
CREATING AND PLANTING GARDEN TROUGHS by Joyce Fingerut and Rex Murfitt is a pragmatic and down-to-earth (or hypertufa) work book with 164 jam-packed detailed pages printed on non-gloss heavy paper. The book contains about 10 pages of color photos, so if you're looking for a "look-book" as opposed to a "work-book" don't stop here. TROUGHS won an American Horticultural Society Book Award, and like AHS publications and U.S.D.A. government publications this publication is filled with good, solid information. (Reminds me of the Girl Scout Handbook.) Fingerut and Martin begin with an overview of the history and background of troughs (originally carved from solid stone and used to hold water for livestock). Even though most of the photos are in black and white, you obtain a clear idea of the beauty various shapes and sizes can add to your garden. The older troughs covered with moss are to die for. A section on "Hypertufa" explains what it is and why it is useful for making incredibly lightweight and strong facsimiles of real stone troughs. Next, the reader is supplied a shopping list of ingredients, utensils and other supplies (rubber gloves, polystyrene foam, duct tape, etc.) needed for the trough-making project. Exact quantities and amounts are not provided, but ratios are given instead. This lack of exactness might prove frustrating to the new trough maker. A good part of the book is devoted to the design and installation of plants in troughs. There are many excellent photos and an informative text describing plant choices, plant care, recommendations, etc.). If you aren't inclined to take on the obviously dirty and labor-intensive work of making your own troughs, you can check to see if your local garden supply store or nursery sells ready-made troughs and then use this book as a guide to filling them with plants.

Most Comprehensive Resource in Print!:
For the novice or experienced trough maker or trough gardener, this book is a MUST HAVE. I could have been spared months of research and many lost hours in trough construction had this book been available when I began making troughs! A very organized presentation of material with breath taking color photographs, detailed resources, extensive plant index, and easy to assimilate instructions. I recommend this to all my "trough students"! A worthy investment!